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Campbell and COPE: The New Arrangement

Call it a trial separation, all about hurt feelings, owed money and how to remain loved by the kids, er voters.

Charles Campbell 15 Dec 2004TheTyee.ca

Charles Campbell has worked as a writer and editor with the Georgia Straight, the Vancouver Sun and The Tyee, and teaches at Capilano University.

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It was supposed to be splitsville. Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell was going to leave his whirlwind bride and strike out on his own as an independent soul. Instead, Campbell told a Tuesday afternoon press conference that he's sometimes been a bad husband in a rocky relationship and he wants to try and work it out.

"I'm not leaving COPE," he said of the party he led to a resounding victory in the 2002 Vancouver civic election. He also shouldered "some of the blame" for the friction.

But, just in case, he's keeping a separate bank account.

What brought him back, after months of speculation — fuelled by Campbell's private musings and personal fundraising efforts — that he would run as an independent in the next civic election? Likely a dose of common sense, courtesy of the people who stood behind him at the press conference, including COPE councillors Jim Green, Tim Stevenson, and Raymond Louie.

While Larry Campbell would walk to a mayoral victory as an independent, his opportunities to shape council's makeup would be limited, nothwithstanding all the yammering about the electoral power of the Campbell "touch." In fact, with Campbell as an independent mayoral candidate, council might become even more Balkanized.

COPE, which has a penchant for self-destructive behavior, might revert to form and run a slate of white ideologues better at opposing than governing.

And the NPA, who Jim Green described Tuesday as "a cadaver looking for a grave to fall into," would be given the breath of life. NPA councillors Peter Ladner and Sam Sullivan would be able to portray themselves as closer to Campbell than COPE's lefties. Green, no doubt trying to shift the media's focus onto the NPA with a bit more hyperbole, said that prospect is "the only thing that can keep them alive."

Follow the money

Then, as always, there's money. COPE was left with a $300,000 debt after the last election. It would be unseemly for Campbell to walk away from his wedding expenses. As well, the COPE executive likely understands that a split would seriously hamper its ability to raise money to fight the next civic election.

So there, behind Larry Campbell, along with the three councillors, was former COPE executive co-chair Carmela Allevato, along with Leonard Schein, the former proprietor of the Fifth Avenue Cinemas and backroom man about town. Allevato and Schein announced the formation of the Friends of Larry Campbell, while Campbell announced an "independent COPE caucus" that will meet apart from the other five COPE councillors.

Some media actually characterized the formation of the caucus as a split, even though it's just a formal acknowledgement of what's been going on since early in COPE's term. Campbell said he hadn't met with the full COPE caucus for two years. Jim Green said he'd been to only one meeting in the past two months.

Although the independents promised to keep talking to their counter-caucus in hope of reconciliation, Campbell acknowledged that their differences of opinion are deeply and honestly held and he's not sure how they can be resolved.

Although some left-out councillors said they found news from the press conference encouraging, they have reason for caution. As any McDonald will tell you, Campbells have feigned peace before and then murdered their rivals in their sleep.

Reconciliation?

One reconciliation remains impossible. Councillor Tim Louis's contempt for Campbell continues unabated; he sees him as betraying party policies on gambling and transit. Campbell sees Louis and others as betraying party policy on the Olympics and transit.

In fact, they both have credible arguments. And while Campbell called for councillors to show discipline and support council's majority decisions, on some key issues most COPE councillors oppose Campbell.

Reconcilliation is unlikely. A war for the support of COPE's membership and control of the COPE slate in the next election seems inevitable.

Louis has clout with COPE's old-school members, but COPE membership has grown considerably — from 1,000 to 3,000, according to Campbell — since he joined the party.

He also told the news conference that he wants COPE to put forward an ethnically diverse slate. COPE has no sparkling record there (witness the current overwhelmingly white regime), while the NPA's fixers have ensured that it has done so consistently. To ensure COPE puts forward such a slate, Campbell's Friends will likely recruit new members, and those members will challenge the preferences of some among COPE's old guard.

'Pig wrestling'

In the last election, COPE elected all eight of its candidates to the 10-member council. If COPE again chooses to leave some electoral room for the Green party, some of the existing councillors will have to go. Yet except for Stevenson, who hopes to reclaim the West End riding in next spring's provincial election, there's no indication that any will leave willingly.

And while Campbell tried for a day to be a kinder, gentler mayor, one who will "continue to work with our fellow COPE councillors" and put the money he's raised in COPE's coffers if everything works out, sometimes he just can't help himself, even when he's just trying to explain.

Campbell talked about how ineffective scrapping can be in politics, especially when dealing with senior governments. Then he quoted his father's advice. "Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig likes it."

Uh, but what if the pig is a contrary COPE councillor? In such instances, Campbell has had difficulty adhering to his father's prescription. And if the pig is a clever and impetuous Tim Louis, there is plenty of mud wrestling yet to come.

Charles Campbell is a contributing editor to The Tyee.
 [Tyee]

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